Impeovement in mowiig-maohines



JOHNW. PIERCE, OF MILLBURY,MASSACHUSETTS.

\ Letters Patent No. 75,573, dated M'arch 17, 1868.

IMPROVE ltlF-NU'. IN MOWING-MAGHINES.

fiilgt fitlgttrlt mama in iljttt flutters 33mm inn nailing newt nt flgt $211118.

TO ALL WHO IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PIERCE, of ltIillbui-y, in the county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and improved Mode of Operating the Finger-Bar of Mowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the some, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and in which- I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mowing-machine with my improvement attached, and

Figure 2 a transverse section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate likparts in the twofigures.

This invention is especially adapted to that class of mowing-machines which have the cutter-bar attached to the hangcr iron by a flexible joint or hinge, and consists in a very simple and efficient arrangement of two lovers, a connecting-link, and guide-post, which will be hereinafter described.

vThe lower lever is attached by one end to the bar or shoe, in any'manner whereby sufficient purchase can be obtained to raise the further end of the cutter or finger-bar by pressing upon the upper or free end of the lower lever, as will be hereinafter described. To the free end of the lower lever is attached a link, which passes through the foot-board, and is connected to the upper lever, as shown in the accompanying. drawings. The upper l ever is fastened to the foot-board, at one end, by hinge-joint; the other end is free to move up and down in guide-posts, as will be seen by reference to the accompanying drawings. Thus, the driver can,'with his foot upon the free end of the upper lever, raise the bar above, and drop it below the plane in which the'wheel or wheels of the machine are moving, and, by means of the rack on the guide-post, the upper lever may be held at any desired 'point. r

By this arrangement, the machine will do as good worlt on top a ridge as on level ground, and the outer end' of the bar can be raised to pass obstructions in the swath without raising the heel or inner end of the bar. To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and OPGYiLtlOIli v i A A are the driving-wheels of the machine. Bis the axle; O C, the frame; D, the pole, to which is fastened the foot-heartland drivers seat, the rear end of D being fastened to the axle B in any manner that may be suited to the kind of machine to which this improvement may be applied. E is the foot-board; F, the seat. G is the lever for raising and lowering the tilting-frame C C. H is the ehain-bywhieh theleverand frame CC are connected at h," I is tl e hanger-iron and is firmly bolted to the frame 0. J is the inside shoe, to which is. bolted the finger or cutter-bar K. The shoe is hinged to the hanger-iron at i i. L is the crooked lever, pass ing from the shoe Ito-the under side of the foot-board E, as seen in fig. 2, and is shown by red dotted lines in fig. 1. It mnly boattached tothe shoe J, as shown in the drawings, or to the joint or hinge i, but, in practice, I prefer to put it in the hinge i, when the shoe comes inside the hinge enough to give a good fulcrum The lever- L should be bjent suiliciently to come as near the'foot-board as possible, and yet not touch it at any time. By tfhus shaping it; always clear all obstructions, over which the axle will pass free. Mis the link which connects the revert to the lever N at the points-1 and 5, fig. 2.. N is attached to foot-board E at and by a.

hinge; the other end isfr e'e to play up and down in guide-posts O. I 2 2 2 2 are rack-teeth, for the purpose of holding the leveri N in any desired position. The free end of lever N should project far enough from the post Q to give ample room for the foot of the driver to operate said lever, and thereby raise and lower the outer end of the cutter-finger barK, as shown by the red lines in fig. "2. i

From this description it will be seen the object of this invention is to so arrange the several parts that they shall all be above any obstructions that will clear the axle. Secondly, that lever on upper side "of foot-board can be operated with left i'oot," leaving right foot and both hands free for other duties, thus bringing the position of thecntteror fingeb-bar under perfect control of the driver, by a very simple and durable arrangement, and withoutinnnyway interfering with the other parts of the machine, as it can be applied to many machines by any one competent to operate the machine in their present state,

I am aware that many devices have been applied to mowing-machines for the purpose of raising the cutterbars; therefore I do not wish to claim broadly the use of a lever or levers for the purpose specified.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv The pivoted bent lever L, finger-bar K, rod M, lever N, and irons I, in combination with the lever,G, all operating as described, whereby the inner end of the finger-bar is raised by the lever G, and its outer end by the lever L, the whole constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN W. PIERCE.

Witnesses:

W. A. WILLIAMS, J. NELSON JACOBS. 

